The Asian Poker Tour’s first tournament in India has swept onto the decks of the floating Casino Royale with monsoon force and marked the first time in history that an international poker tour has visited the country. The INR 5000 No Limit Hold’em opening event of the APT Asian Series Goa was held yesterday and attracted a healthy field of 89 runners, generating a total prize pool of INR 400,500.

After Vinay Suchede was knocked out in third place for INR 44,100, the event culminated in a marathon heads up battle between Phil Sanders and Mihir Mehta, which broke all APT records for the time it took to complete. After the dust had settled, it seemed only fitting that Sanders was the player to emerge as the deserving victor. He claimed the top prize of INR 136,200 over Mehta who had to content himself with going home INR 80,100 richer.

The official tournament clock went into error mode during the battle, exceeding its maximum 21 levels of play, until both players finally got all their money in with Sanders’ K-6 dominating Mehta’s J-6. The board ran out with neither player hitting, ensuring the winner’s trophy and lion’s share of the prize pool went to Sanders in the APT’s inaugural Goa event.

“We are extremely pleased with the player turnout for this first event of APT Asian Series Goa. Normally, local tournaments start in the evening so with a 4pm start we were not sure of player participation, but we were overwhelmed by the amount of players from all over India that are here for APT week,” said Jeff Mann, Asian Poker Tour CEO.

The INR 15,000 buy-in Head Hunter is the next event in the schedule and starts today at 4pm. Day 1A of the much anticipated INR 50,000 Main Event begins on Friday and you can get a full rundown of the APT Asian Series schedule at www.TheAsianPokerTour.com.

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